Social Inclusion for Labour Law: Meeting Particular Scales of Justice

Abstract

Social inclusion is argued to be a central foundation of labour law. However, scholarly contributions referring to this notion have not yet questioned what the normative account of social inclusion as a foundation of labour law should be. They base their arguments on various normative accounts—some on the account of minimum welfare; others on broader accounts that include voice and personal fulfilment—without seriously addressing the question at hand. But this question is highly pressing, given that numerous workers who are socially excluded according to socio-economic parameters are also located outside the confines of labour law or experience what Sen has termed as ‘unfavourable inclusion’. This chapter offers an account of social inclusion based on Nancy Fraser’s Scales of Justice, claiming that it should entail recognition, fair redistribution, and meaningful representation. It stresses that this account is in line with both social inclusion theory and with labour law, and shows how it captures the lives of various workers, including those who are in most need of such inclusion.